The U.S. Ryder Cup team goes from juggernaut to jitters

Some difficult personnel decisions for Zach Johnson, so here's some help.

Brooks Koepka

Thirty years ago, on a course called The Belfry, the U.S. team ignored all the meters, litres and lack of ice in its midst and won the Ryder Cup. 

Tiger Woods was still three years away from turning pro. Payne Stewart was the leading light, winning three of his four matches. Raymond Floyd and Lanny Wadkins were the crusty captain’s picks. Jim Gallagher stunned Seve Ballesteros, 3 and 2, during Sunday singles, and Davis Love III clinched it with a win over Costantino Rocca. The Americans won that singles round 7 ½ and 4 ½. Rory McIlroy was four years old.

Since then, Europe is undefeated at home. That’s a six-match win streak, spanning a generation. The Americans have stumbled from border to border, losing in Ireland, Spain, France, Wales and England. Next month they get their chance in Italy. Considering their 19-9 plundering of the Euros two years ago in Wisconsin, this should not be close and yet you know it will be. You know there will be a young fellow with pink pants, a pony tail and a beret rolling in 40-foot putts from all compass points, because that’s what the Ryder Cup has become.

Zach Johnson is the U.S. captain this time. On Aug. 29, two days after the Tour Championship ends, he will make his six picks to join the six automatic qualifiers: Scottie Scheffler, Wyndham Clark, Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, Max Homa and Brian Harman.

This is always the most fraught day in U.S. professional golf, the time when all this marketed bonhomie among the players disappears when the captain has to make an unfavorable call.

The LIV Golf rebellion confirmed our suspicions that American golfers are as capable of bile buildup as are NASCAR drivers. Phil Mickelson will not be on hand to talk trash at the ping-pong table, and Woods is far closer to running the team than playing on it. So the selections will be treacherous for Johnson, just as the entire Roman Holiday could be for the Yanks.

For one thing, five of the 2021 automatic qualifiers won’t be around this time. Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau were warned they could be walking away from Ryder Cup consideration when they joined LIV Golf. Brooks Koepka also defected but also won the 2023 PGA Championship. The PGA of America, not the PGA Tour, administers the Ryder Cup team, and the LIV golfers are still members. The Tour runs the Presidents Cup team and undoubtedly will keep the LIV group in exile, but there’s nothing keeping them off this particular team.

The Euros aren’t as far along on their selection process, and captain Luke Donald has his own tough calls. But they probably will bring a formidable nucleus in McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Viktor Hovland, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Tyrell Hatton and Tommy Fleetwood, along with the usual mystery guests. They’ll miss Ian Poulter, his crazy eyes and his bulls-eye putting, but they needn’t be reminded of their own remarkable history, and one can only imagine the thunderous sounds of an Italian gallery, in its first shot at the show.

(Note to any Italian fan who seeks tips on acting like a member of Jerkus Americanus: “Get in the hole!” translates to “Entrare nel buco!”)

Z. Johnson has asked for advice from those who he’s encountered during his own stellar career. The amount of unsolicited advice coming his way can only be measured in exponents. So what’s one more first-guess?

Dustin Johnson: Is he one of America’s 12 best golfers? That is as silly a question as it would have been two years ago. DJ was 5-0 for the U.S. at Whistling Straits. He says he wants to rejoin the fold for this event, and he would be welcomed in any pairing. And he wouldn’t have to play five events again, although, even at 39, he surely could.

Brooks Koepka: Again, it would be a serious case of golfing malpractice to skip Koepka. A good experiment would be to canvass the Euros and see if they’d like to match up with the glowering five-time major champion when it’s win-or-go-home time, late of a Sunday afternoon.

Jordan Spieth: It’s been a while since Spieth has been one of the world’s best players, but he has winning Ryder Cup experience and the brimming competitiveness that often tilts a match. He’s also the ideal teammate, having won big with Patrick Reed and Justin Thomas alike.

Sam Burns: He won the PGA Tour’s Match Play event in March. He hasn’t done much since, but he ranks 11th in strokes gained/putting on the PGA Tour and he has won Tour events under much Scheffler-generated stress. Should not be a tough call.

Keegan Bradley: Another feisty type who is in the top 30 in tour putting and has won this season. But just because you deserve to make this team doesn’t mean you will.

Collin Morikawa: A 61 in the first round of the Tour Championship Thursday is an indicator that Morikawa hasn’t forgotten how to putt. He’s a 2-time major champ who would be a relatively safe pick. Then again, Scheffler was anything but a safe pick, only two years ago, and he made the team better.

Cameron Young: Consistency has given Young 9th place in the Ryder Cup standings, and he was the Match Play runnerup to Burns. He also has played beautifully on Sundays without winning, with the 2022 Open Championship serving as Exhibit A. He has been better than Clark or Harman, but their major victories put them in the sainted six. Too many good players, not enough empty chairs.

Justin Thomas: Geoff Ogilvy said it would be outrageous to shun Thomas, who is undefeated in best-ball competition in both Ryder and Presidents Cups and is 16-5-3 overall in those events. There’s no doubt that Thomas is one of the world’s top five players when all systems are go. But it’s difficult to wind up as low as 15th in the Ryder standings when you’ve won a major (last year’s PGA) during the eligibility period. His high finish since February is a ninth-place at Hartford. Thomas would likely thrive in this Ryder Cup, especially when paired with Spieth, because he would be so incentivized by a second chance, and because the Higher Cause would liberate him from dwelling on his own troubles. Still, if you put Thomas on the team you’re essentially telling Bradley, Morikawa, Young, Rickie Fowler, Lucas Glover and others that actual performance is meaningless. Thomas had an eternity to prove he deserved this and never did.